Easy cranberry sauce

Making cranberry sauce isn’t much harder than boiling water – a bag of fresh cranberries, sugar and water in a pot. Better tasting than canned and better for you.

Ingredients

1 12-ounce bag (3 cups) fresh cranberries

1 cup sugar

1 cup water (or orange juice)

Orange zest (optional)

Directions

Rinse cranberries in a colander, picking out any stems.

Pour cranberries into medium saucepan. Add water and sugar.

Place saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer. You will hear the cranberries pop. Simmer 10-15 minutes until cranberries are soft and skins are popped open (you’ll still have some whole ones, but it’s the pectin inside the cranberries that will make the sauce thicken as it cools).

Pour sauce into a bowl to cool.

Notes

I like the idea of using orange juice, but the taste gets lost with the cranberries. To really taste orange, zest is best.

Easy to add nuts, spices or other embellishments (diced pear is nice) to this basic recipe.

I’ve been tempted in the past to reduce the amount of sugar, but I’ve learned a too-tart sauce doesn’t attract many takers in my house.